


it doesn't work (if no one listens to the lookout)

by ArmedWithMyComputer



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Bad guys, Blood, Hurt/Comfort, Its bad guys, Medical Procedures, Violence, bank robberies, injuries, no beta we die like men, ouchies, people need to listen to Klaus, very traumatised hargreeves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-01-11 04:40:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18423006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArmedWithMyComputer/pseuds/ArmedWithMyComputer
Summary: “Jesus fucking Christ,” he cursed, “lookout doesn’t work if no one listens to the lookout.”A flash of blue ahead of him signalled the appearance of Five, but Klaus already knew that they were both going to be too late. He made a split second decision to change direction slightly, and he skidded off to the left, towards the area of empty space between the gun and Diego and Allison.The gun went off, Klaus threw himself forward, and the sounds of the shots were lost among the pure chaos..A bank robbery mission where things go very badly very quickly, and lessons are learned the hard way.





	1. Chapter 1

Klaus had been delegated to being the lookout for the last three missions, and he was starting to get bored.

“Number Four, lookout. Number Five, as part of entry team two with Number Three. Number Six, behind Number One and Two. Number Seven, you are to remain in the car and take notes until the mission debrief. Move out.”

Their father’s mission briefs were always the same, with the brisk and sharp way he would call out their designations before opening the car door and sending his children off to a dangerous criminal situation. Well, most of his children.

Klaus yawned and made a face, stretching out and accidentally hitting Diego in the head beside him. His brother scowled even more than usual, and shoved him back, knocking Klaus against the cold window. Luther frowned at them, already in his serious mission mode, and Allison only rolled her eyes.

“Lookout is boring,” he moaned, “I might as well stay in the car and be bored like Vanya.” He could hear the whine in his voice, as Klaus gestured with a pale skinny arm at his sister, who only blushed and averted her gaze.

Sir Reginald looked furious at the lack of complete obedience, and Klaus just wrinkled up his face in defiance.

There was no time for his usual lecture though as they’d arrived at the back entrance to the bank, and Luther was already flinging open the car door before they had come to a complete halt. Klaus sulked and moved slower than usual, his domino mask askew on his face as it usually was, and sighed as Diego pushed past him. Luther had already opened the door with his enhanced strength and Klaus felt a strange feeling of apprehension rise inside him.

Ben gave him a sad smile as he passed him, bumping his shoulder against Klaus' gently, and that was enough to get Klaus through the door of the bank.

The familiar sounds of sirens faded as they entered the dark service corridor, and Klaus knew that the police would be setting up a perimeter within minutes. They wouldn’t enter the building until they had a better idea of the unfolding situation and could determine the safety of the hostages inside, so the siblings knew they would be uninterrupted in their mission.

Klaus scuffed his shiny shoes on the dusty ground as he hung back for a moment to hear the door slam behind him. He’d turned around to get a last look out at the sun shining in the sky, and instead locked eyes with Vanya from her position in the car. She looked sadder than he expected, but the door had closed before he could get more than a glimpse.  

Luther was already talking by the time Klaus reached the group huddle, and it was no real surprise that they’d started without him.

He didn’t see much point in listening anyway, seeing as his only job would be to stand in the corner and watch everyone else get to fight.

It wasn’t even that Klaus particularly wanted to join in on the uninhibited violence, but he wanted the option to. He liked kicking bad guys in the shins as much as the next teenager, but his recent aversion to the killing of the bad guys was what had caused his father’s current distaste towards him.

Then his siblings were suddenly moving off, and Klaus sighed heavily before following Ben, Luther, and Diego. He waved his fingers at Allison and Five as they headed off down a different corridor, and was unsurprised when they ignored him. His quiet gasp of mock hurt was cut off by Diego elbowing him in the ribs, and Klaus almost opened his mouth to protest at the unjust treatment but then Luther turned around to glare at him.

The sound of gunshots ahead made the protest die in his throat, and Klaus swallowed down his giddiness. He could hear sobbing and crying in the distance and his stomach twisted with anxiety.

Some naive part of him hoped this would be a tame robbery, as bank robberies went.

He was wrong.

.

They reached the lobby of the bank, and Luther sank into a crouch to survey the scene, motioning for them to do the same.

Klaus could see Allison and Five peeking out from one of the other corridors across the lobby, and he narrowed his eyes as he surveyed the scene in front of them.

The main lobby of the bank was a vast space, with light streaming in from a large glass ceiling that shone nicely on the polished black and white diamond tiles. There were seven robbers, and presumably more in the safe of the bank, that were spread out across the lobby and they seemed to be split up into different quadrants of the space. Most of them had guns, and all of them had thin black masks obscuring their facial features from view.

There were also hostages out in the open, some cornered in beside a group of desks and others sprawled out on the floor near the offices, and one of the criminals was yelling at them. Klaus could see the sadistic smile on the man’s face through the mask as he took in the terror on the civilian’s faces, and he frowned in disgust.

Luther made some hand gestures that Klaus didn’t bother paying attention to, and then signalled across to Allison and Five who sent back a thumbs up.

“Stay here, Klaus,” Luther growled at him as they started moving, and then added unnecessarily, “You’re the look out.”

Klaus stuck up his middle finger at his brother’s back, but obeyed the order, hanging back behind a marble pillar as his siblings sauntered into the midst of the scene. He leaned against the structure and scratched his elbow absentmindedly as he prepared himself for a boring few minutes.

It began as it usually began, with some confusion on the part of the robbers’ at the sudden appearance of a group of uniformed children, that quickly turned into anger as said children began to fight back.

The seven criminals were split up easily by the siblings, and it turned into an one on one, or two on one fight that honestly just bored Klaus.

He kept an eye on the man with the gun that veered off to the side to stand menacingly in front of a group of hostages. Klaus could tell from one glance that he wasn’t much of a threat though, from the nervous tension in his shoulders and the clumsy way that he that he held the gun.

Everything was going as it should, and Klaus quickly grew bored of leaning against the pillar and having no fun. He spotted a bowl of hard candies sitting atop one of the abandoned counters, and decided that it would be a better tactical position if he instead observed from that particular spot. Plus, he was certain that no one would mind if one of their hero’s helped himself to some delicious looking candy as payment for, you know, saving their lives.

Klaus was skirting around the robber in front of the hostages when he saw an unaccounted figure emerge from a side door that hadn’t been visible from their original position.

He stopped for a moment, eyes focused in on the new threat and assessed the situation. He saw the handgun in the man’s grip immediately, saw the way the safety was off and his finger was on the trigger. Even from across the polished lobby floor, Klaus could see that this man meant business, and that he didn’t seem like the kind of man who would have qualms about shooting a bunch of thirteen year olds.

This changed the situation, this new element to the equation that Klaus was pretty sure only he had noticed.

He waved violently across to Diego and Allison who were ganging up on one of the criminals and forcing him back into a corner with some fancy kicks and spins, but they didn’t see him. Ben was busy helping some of the hostages hiding under the desk to run across the room to one of the offices on the side of the lobby that they’d cleared. Luther was quite literally throwing bad guys around, his back to Klaus.

Five was, well Klaus wasn’t sure exactly where Five was with all his jumping around the room, but he was almost sure his brother wouldn’t let himself be distracted by Klaus.

“Three o clock,” he called out, pointing in vain towards the new threat, “incoming bad dude at three o clock, amigos! Over _there_!”

They all ignored him,

 “Jesus fucking Christ,” he cursed, and dodged to the side when the man he was trying to get around noticed him and lunged, “lookout doesn’t work if no one listens to the lookout.” The man seemed confused for a split second, as if wondering if Klaus was talking directly to him, and that was the second that Klaus needed to knock the gun out of his loose grip and land a punch to his face.

He followed it quickly with a knee to the groin, and then a strong kick to the man’s face when he dropped to his knees. He was out before he hit the ground, and Klaus leaped over him quickly.

Klaus would be one of the first to admit that he was one of the weakest fighters in the Hargreeves family, but he was more than capable of taking down a fully grown man. He was good at it too, despite what some of his siblings might say.

The floor was slippery under his shoes as he sprinted across the shiny tiles, and Klaus felt his mouth go dry as he watched the man raise the gun, “ _Guys_!”. It seemed to be in slow motion that the barrel of the gun moved and was pointed in the direction of Diego and Allison.

He could hear Ben behind him realise what was happening and the tone of fear in his brother’s voice, “ _Klaus_!”

A flash of blue ahead of him signalled the appearance of Five, but Klaus already knew that they were both going to be too late. He made a split second decision to change direction slightly, and he skidded off to the left, towards the area of empty space between the gun and Diego and Allison.

The gun went off, Klaus threw himself forward, and the sounds of the shots were lost among the pure chaos.

For a moment, there was nothing but the feeling of air rushing past his face, but then Klaus was hit by a force that knocked the breath out of his lungs. It sent him crashing to the side, and as he fell, he registered the sensation of another hit, and then another.

Then his body slammed onto the floor, and his head cracked painfully against the cold tile.

.

If Klaus’ eyes had been open, he would have seen what unfolded in the immediate aftermath.

He missed seeing Number Five appear on the shoulders of the shooter and almost twist his head off with the strength of his attack, the man’s neck breaking instantaneously. He also missed the two knives that whizzed across the room to bury themselves in the chest of the man who’d shot him, barely milliseconds after Five had snapped his neck.

He didn’t see the instant devastation and guilt that radiated out from Luther as he whirled around to take in the scene, didn’t see the anguish in Ben’s face as he watched from too far away.

Allison screamed, and somehow in the depths of Klaus’ consciousness he registered it, and then Luther’s yell joined in.

_Now, it was personal._

Ben’s body was already tearing itself apart as his face darkened, and his mouth opened in a silent scream as tentacles burst out of his chest. They shot out to yank the man’s already dead body from under Five’s feet and fling the body upwards in the air with such force that it hit the glass ceiling and left a splatter of blood on the clear surface before the body plummeted back towards the ground and landed with a sickening squelch.

The violence that unfolded in the seconds after Klaus had gone down was enough of a terrifying display of raw power that it sent both the robbers and civilians running for a way out.

Luther forced himself to turn away from the still body of his brother on the floor, Allison and Five already leaning over him, and let out another howl of rage as he reached out to grab one of the criminals by the shoulders and throw him into a marble pillar with enough force to crack the surface.

He turned to gesture to Ben, but his brother was already stalking towards the vault room of the bank with a dangerous tension to his body. Luther watched as the last three men remaining from the group of robbers attempted to make their escape, to run outside into the safer arms of the law, but were felled instantly by knives to the back. He nodded at the sight, and then started running towards his siblings.

.

Instead of witnessing the onslaught of violence, Klaus opened his eyes to the sight of Five slapping his cheek persistently. His brother wasn’t gentle, and it was the sting of his hand on Klaus’ cheek that was the first jolt of pain he experienced. He frowned, and opened his mouth to protest, but then a wave of agony crashed over him.

He tried to suck in a desperate breath, but the instant pain was so consuming that all he could do was gasp uselessly.

Klaus’ eyes widened, and he met Five’s grim gaze with confusion in his eyes. “Don’t move,” Five instructed, as if Klaus was about to go anywhere, and then he moved slightly to lean over Klaus and put pressure on part of his chest, and _then_ Klaus was sure that he knew true pain.

He could feel his legs spasming against his will as he struggled to get away, could sense his lower body weakly bucking against the pressure.

Another force pinned him down by the thigh then, and he let out a strangled yell.

His vision grayed out for an indeterminate amount of time then, but when he refocused it, Ben’s face was directly over his and he looked like was yelling. It was then that Klaus realised his hearing must be gone as well, and he felt a sense of calm begin to spread through his body.

He rolled his head to the side, to see Luther kneeling beside him, and he could see a dark redness spreading across the black and white tiles.

A faint tugging sensation somewhere in his chest caught his attention then, and Klaus blinked slowly as he tried to focus his gaze on whatever Luther was looking at. He couldn’t quite move effectively though, and only managed to twitch his head weakly against the ground.

Gentle hands tugged at his face then, and moved his head carefully back up to his original position of staring up at the ceiling, and by default, Ben.

Klaus opened his mouth to say thank you, but instead all that came out was a weak cough that left a coppery taste in his mouth. Something warm slid down from his open lips, and Klaus knew that he should be alarmed, but he just felt tired instead.

Suddenly several hands were gripping his body, and Klaus’ world tilted again as he felt himself be rolled onto his side. He coughed involuntarily again and more blood leaked out from his mouth, dripping onto the ground at an alarming rate.

He struggled to inhale again, and all of a sudden his senses came rushing back to him.

“He’s going to choke, keep him still, keep the pressure—”

“Shit, shit, shit – Klaus, Jesus—”

“—need to get him back to Dad, Allison don’t let go of—”

“—me, Klaus, stay with me, Klaus keep your eyes open, we’re—”

“On the count of three—one, two, three, lift—"

The pain engulfed every inch of him, but somehow Klaus managed to scream despite having little to no air in his lungs. He used the last of his energy to jerk his body out in an attempt to do something, anything, but the agony overwhelmed him instantly.


	2. Chapter 2

Diego was holding up Klaus’ limp legs, and they were running.

The sounds around them were overwhelming, but somehow Diego couldn’t seem to hear them. He could only focus on the dead weight in his arms, the way Klaus’ shoes were dangling from his arms, and how his pale legs were splattered with blood.

Allison was leading the way through the bank, rushing forward to open each door as their tragic team raced through.

Luther was carrying most of the weight, his trembling hands had lifted Klaus carefully from the ground right as he’d made that awful scream, the one that had made them all freeze for a moment before it cut off with a gurgle that Diego didn’t think he’d ever be able to forget.

On the other side, Five was steadily keeping pressure on a wound in their brother’s chest, his face carefully schooled into a grim frown. It was a testament to how serious it must have been, that Five had refused to jump back to the car and warn Dad, that even a moment without the pressure was too much to consider.

Diego risked a glance back towards Ben, and the sight made his throat close up and his heart tighten with fear.

His brother’s face was covered with blood, literally soaked in red, but unfortunately that wasn’t the thing that caught Diego’s attention. No, it was the emptiness in Ben’s eyes, the darkness that  seemed to hollow out his face, the utter despair and lack of hope that Ben seemed to be making no attempt to mask.

He’d never seen that look in his brother before.

Diego could understand it though, could feel the sentiment rushing through him, as he dared to flick his gaze down to Klaus.

Klaus’ face was so drenched of any colour that he looked like he was already dead, if it hadn’t been for the irregular shuddering of breathing. Ben’s arms were wrapped under Klaus’ shoulders, and his his head was tilted back on Ben’s shoulder, blood streaming out from the side of his mouth with each exhale.

They were tearing through the back corridors of the bank, and Diego knew they were leaving some trail of devastation in their path. To say nothing of the fallen robbers, or the twisted deformed body of the one who’d _dared_ to point a gun at their brother, who’d brought their whole world crashing down with three shots. The floor beneath them had been unrecognisable from the pristine marble tiles that they’d entered on, smeared with blood and smattered with damage.

He wondered for a brief moment how their father was going to handle this mess, the publicity hit that the Umbrella Academy would surely take when the public found out that a thirteen year old had been practically butchered on the floor of a bank when the police had been outside more than capable of handling the situation. That his own father had sent him in.

But then they were bursting out into the air, and the sun shone in Diego’s eyes causing tears that he had been choking down to well up again.

Vanya let out a scream as she opened the car and half-fell out, her dark eyes darting in every direction around them as she struggled to take in the massacre in front of her.

They ignored her, still barrelling forward, and Vanya stumbled out of the way, clutching onto Allison for support.

The brothers somehow managed to manoeuvre Klaus onto the backseat of the car, Ben folding himself into the crevice between the door and seat and cradling Klaus’ head onto his lap. Five pushed roughly past the stunned figure of Sir Reginald as he took in the scene in front of him with an unmoving face. Luther let Klaus’ body slide gently onto the seat and then took up a position in the footwell of the vehicle.

Their father watched in silence, and opened his mouth to say something before closing it again.

He settled for rapping his cane forcefully against the window of the car, and Vanya only just managed to close the door behind her as the car lurched away from the alleyway.

Diego felt his whole body trembling as he tried to regulate his breathing, but he failed and resumed his quiet gasping. He let the tears in his eyes well up, trying to keep them from spilling over onto his cheeks, and his vision slowly blurred until he couldn’t see anything anymore.

.

Klaus had lost a shoe somewhere between the lobby and the car, Diego noticed as he steadfastly stared at anywhere that wasn’t Klaus’ upper body. From his position crouched on the floor of the car, jammed in between his sisters’ legs, he stared at his brother’s legs and bit his lip so hard that blood filled his mouth. It made him feel sick to his stomach.

The tie they had hastily tied around his right leg was covered by Luther’s large hands pressing down in an attempt to stem the steady flow of blood that welled up through his fingers.

The speeding car hit a bump, and Diego was jolted forward, almost hitting Luther and possibly disrupting his concentrated task, but Vanya’s hands shot out quicker than he could realise and pulled his shoulders back towards her and Allison.

She left her grip on his shoulders, fingers digging in so hard that Diego was sure he should be able to feel something, but all he felt was numb.

The car swung around into one of the laneways behind their house, the one closest to where the infirmary was in the mansion.

He realised belatedly that they hadn’t been driving to the hospital, to one of the main trauma centres in the state, and Diego could feel the confusion washing over him slowly, “T-t-the hosp-hospital, Dad – he-he – K-Klaus – h-h-h-hospital—”

“Silence!” Sir Reginald’s voice barked out, and cut through the stammering mess of his words that were dangerous close to becoming hysteric. His father’s hand lashed out and caught him on the cheek, leaving Diego reeling and his face burning. “Number One, get him inside! Number Five, keep pressure on his chest!”

Diego shrank back against the seats of the car as Pogo yanked open the door, and Luther practically threw himself out of the car. He reached back to slide Klaus’ body out, Five moving in tandem with him, with such tenderness that none of them had ever seen before.

Their mother was waiting with her usual wide smile that slowly faded and was replaced with that expressionless clinical look in her eyes that always came over whenever something bad happened. She tilted her head for a split second, and then was moving quicker than Diego had seen her before.

His brothers and father bustled into the house, and Diego and his sisters were left in the car for a quiet moment.

He dug the heels of his hands into his closed eyes, and pushed hard until he saw stars in the blackness. Allison was crying behind him, and he felt Vanya slowly release the grip she had on his shoulders. She tentatively patted him on the shoulder, and Diego just let out a sob.

“Come on,” Vanya said then, in a quiet timid voice that seemed as fragile as her, as much to herself as either of them, “We – we have to go in.”

.

The world was ending.

The world must be ending, Ben remembered thinking passively as he watched the scene unfold before him as though it was happening behind a thick pane of glass. The world must be ending because this couldn’t be happening. This – Klaus—this wasn’t real. The sounds of their father shouting at them seemed to take a backseat to the rushing in his ears, and Ben whimpered when his mother swooped in beside him to nimbly take the weight of Klaus’ upper body off him. He let out a strangled cry, but wasn’t able to make his hands work properly to grip Klaus close to him.

The weight left his arms, and then his feet seemed planted into the ground and all he could do was watch as his brother was taken further out of his reach.

He swayed on his feet, suddenly lightheaded and feeling like his heart was tearing out of his chest instead of monsters out of his abdomen.

There was a few seconds of torture as he tilted backwards and forward, the thumping in his chest threatening to overwhelming him altogether. He was saved by the appearance of Diego, Vanya, and Allison behind him. His two sisters wordlessly linked arms with him and propelled him forward with their movements, and Ben remembered how to move his feet effectively to reach the infirmary after a heartbeat or two.

One foot in front of the other.

Ben watched numbly as they arrived in the doorway in time to see as Klaus was placed onto the exam table and their mother leaned over him with all the clinical efficiency that she’d been programmed with.

There were machines and equipment being rolled out of panels in the wall that Ben had never seen before, and Mom was holding a mask on his brother’s face vigorously pumping air into his lungs. Allison was crying, and Ben could feel the intensity of Vanya’s trembling beside him. Luther and Five retreated slowly from the table, and they made it back to the rest of their siblings, hands shaking by their sides.

One of Klaus’ hands that had been hanging off the edge of the table was lifted hurriedly by Pogo then, and he held up a large needle, angling it towards the inside of Klaus's elbow.

“Uhh,” Diego stammered out as the needle slid into Klaus’ arm, a droplet of blood welling up around it, and dropped a moment later in a dead faint. Ben and Luther still managed to catch him between the two of them out of some sort of unconscious reflex, and lowered him to the ground carefully. Allison crouched down beside Diego, and there were still tears streaming down her cheeks as she gently supported his head, Diego’s eyes already starting to flutter open. Ben vaguely remembered thinking that Diego had lasted for longer than he’d expected. He wondered how Allison still had so many tears to cry.

He wondered if he was crying too. Ben lifted a shaking hand to his face to see if he could feel any tears, and remembers too late that both his face and hands are covered in blood. He ended up just smearing half-dried blood into his cheek.

.

“Children!” They all flinched at the harsh tone of voice, but their father wasn’t even looking at them as he barked out the command, “Assemble with your sleeves up for blood donation.” 

And that seemed to jolt them out of their stupor, and suddenly they all sprung forward with a new energy inside them. Something to help Klaus, something to be useful, something they can _do._

Luther made it there first, and he thrusted out his arm to Pogo, his sleeves pushed up so quickly that the blazer had ripped at the side seam. Ben offered up his arm to Sir Reginald, who gripped it firmly and barely ran a cleaning swab over it before he jabbed the needle in.

Even Diego dragged himself off the floor and wobbled over to them, though Vanya had to fetch him a chair to slump in before he went down again. Five graciously wrapped an arm around Diego’s chest from behind to keep him in the chair as he was connected to a blood collection bag, more out of necessity to keep his half-fainting body mostly upright.

The six identical bags of blood filled up quicker than Ben expected, and he’s so distracted from watching the bag fill that the horror of the situation seems to fade for a brief moment. It wasn't the first time they had their blood taken, with their father's three monthly health reports including blood work, but it was the first time that they'd needed to give it for a sibling. Ben felt a wave of gratitude that they were all the same blood type, that the crazy event that brought them all into the world on the same day also gave them all compatible blood, if only for that one moment that they could help Klaus.

A wave of guilt slammed into him then, as he heard his mother asking Pogo for something, and Ben couldn't believe that he almost _forgot_ about what was happening.

He looked back over at Klaus, and instantly wishes that he hadn’t. Their mother had cut away what remained of the blazer and shirt on Klaus, and his chest was exposed, weakly rising in an asymmetrical rhythm that both fascinated and horrified Ben.

There was an ugly tube already sticking out of his chest, a wide bore monstrosity of an tube that was placed in a few centimetres beneath his armpit, and there’s a container of dark blood beside the table that it’s draining into. Their mother blocked Ben’s view for a brief moment as she leaned over Klaus’ chest right where the wound is soaking through a pressure bandage that had been applied. He caught a glimpse of the glint of the instrument under the fluorescent light, the steady way his mother holds it, and Ben feels the lightheadedness returning.

“Out!” Sir Reginald’s voice cut through the rising panic for a moment, and he points at the door with an unreadable look on his face, “You are all to get cleaned up and manage any minor wounds appropriately. I expect you all in the dining room in thirty minutes for a debrief.”

None of them moved for a long second, and Ben wasn't sure what his emotions were doing because he felt so empty but yet overflowing with grief at the same time, but he knows he can’t even consider leaving Klaus at that moment. He doesn’t even have to look around to know that the rest of his siblings feel the same way. Luther spoke up, almost without realising, “But, Dad—”

“Number One! You _will_ escort your siblings out and leave Grace to fix this mess! Do _not_ disobey me!”

That’s all it took for Luther to back down and he hauled Diego gently out of the chair, his eyes shining with tears. Vanya grabbed hold of Five’s hand and they stumble out of the room together. Ben can’t make his feet move again though, and he remained trapped, unable to tear his gaze away from the brightly lit tragedy that is his brother.

One of the machines made a frantic bleeping noise then, and Ben loses the ability to breathe along with Klaus.

At the same time as his breath stalled, Ben watched with a sick feeling in his stomach as their mother tilted back Klaus’ head and held another long tube ready. He could see that his brother's breaths had become more irregular, weaker, and that he was beginning to gurgle again despite the copious amounts of blood that had been suctioned out of his mouth.

He let out a whimper as curved instrument was put into Klaus’ mouth and then a tube threaded in after it. It was then connected to a bulky machine that hissed and beeped at regular intervals as Klaus’ chest began to rise and fall once more.

Allison’s hands tugged at his arm then, and Ben gratefully let her lead him away. He can’t- he cant process what has just happened.

They stood outside the door that was closed firmly behind them, and for a moment none of them were able to speak. Diego looked like he was silently stuttering, his lips moving in the same pattern, but there was no sound coming out.

Ben inhaled deeply, and then repeated the manoeuvre but no air wasgetting into his lungs.

He felt someone pat him on the arm and say something to him, but the sounds in his head had risen and risen again since the door blocked his view of Klaus. He recognised belatedly that he was definitely hyperventilating, that he should be able to hear the sounds of his gasping, but nothing is making its way to his mind.

His knees collapsed underneath him, and Ben was so _thankful_ for the darkness that slipped around him and takes him gently to another place.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter already, wow, hope everyone else isn't as traumatised as the poor Hargreeves kids. Apologies if you are!
> 
> Let me know what you thought in the comments, and I'll try have the next one up quickly!


	3. Chapter 3

Diego lifted the cloth to his face and closed his eyes against the warm water, wiping away the blood splatters and sweat with a grimace.

He dunked the cloth into the water and repeated the motion, feeling a shudder rock his body despite the bathroom not being cold. He stared into the mirror in front of him instead of looking down at the pink tinged water in the sink. Diego didn’t think that he could handle the sight of more blood, the mere thought of it forcing him to take a deep breath in and ground himself by gripping onto the cool ceramic sink.

Around him, his siblings were in a similar state of shock, each one gradually cleaning the remnants of the mission off them.

Allison and Five were behind him, both washing their hands vigorously in the bath that was half filled with soapy water, scrubbing at their skin until it turned pink. Vanya was the only one who wasn’t covered in blood, and she seemed frozen in the doorway, watching them all stumble around the bathroom and attempt to function.

Ben was the most out of it, his eyes staring blankly in front of him, and Diego just bit his lip as he numbly watched Luther help his brother out of the blood soaked blazer and shirt. He then gently prodded him towards the shower, still dressed in his shorts and under top, and Ben didn’t even flinch as the water came down and washed the dark blood down the drain. Luther waited until the water turned clear underneath Ben’s feet, and then pulled him out carefully, accepting the towel that Allison handed him and wrapping it around Ben.

Eventually Ben seemed to come back to them, and he gripped the towel tighter around his shoulders. He gave Luther a weak nod, that his brother returned, and accepted the pile of clean clothes that Vanya held out as an offering.

They were used to Ben’s vacant stares after missions, used to guiding him into the house and up to the bathroom in his bloody clothes, but his episodes rarely lasted that long.

Diego felt a pang of relief as he and Ben met eyes, that Ben was back with them. When he’d hit the floor outside the infirmary, Diego had felt his weak legs tremble, and it was only the steady presence of Luther beside him that had kept him upright. They had carefully moved Ben into the recovery position, and he’d regained consciousness quickly enough. But he had come back with that awful emptiness in his eyes that they all recognised, and it was obvious that Ben wasn’t with them yet.

They usually all went their separate ways after missions, using the Academy’s numerous bathrooms to wash off and then retreat to their rooms, but this time Diego didn’t think he could bear to be apart from his siblings. They had waited for Ben to come around, and then slowly limped to the largest bathroom, to wash their brother’s blood off them.

 _Klaus_.

Diego felt a wave of fear rise up as they trudged out of the bathroom, and all glanced unwilling towards the corridor where the infirmary was. He could almost sense the tension that sprang into Ben’s body, and realised that he was holding his breath only when his chest began to feel tight.

“Dad said – He said to wait for him in the dining room,” Luther said in a confident tone, the kind of tone that a leader would have, “We’ll give him the mission debrief, and he’ll tell us that K-Klaus is fine. He’ll fix this.” Diego always knew when he was lying though.

But he didn’t think that he could handle what lay behind the infirmary doors, didn’t think he could take in all that blood and the broken body of his brother again without breaking down.

Diego didn’t trust himself to speak without stuttering, so he simply grunted in agreement, and followed Luther’s lead.

Ben seemed like he was going to protest, but Diego could see the terror in his eyes, and knew that Ben didn’t want to face his fears either. He placed a heavy hand on Ben’s back, frowning slightly at the way his hand began to vibrate with the force of Ben’s invisible shaking, and guided him in the direction of the dining room.

.

Klaus was floating.

He became aware slowly of his consciousness coming back to himself, and it felt _weird._ His world was reduced to swirling blackness and his limbs felt both heavy and light at the same time.

Slowly, slowly he began to feel more and more of his body, started to sink back into himself.

His chest started to burn, and his head started to clear, and Klaus decided immediately that he did not like this. There was a weight pressing down on his ribs, and after another moment, he became aware of something in his throat, like an obstruction to his breathing that he couldn’t shift. It was uncomfortable and foreign, and it _hurt_ , and Klaus had never experienced anything like it before.

He attempted to cough, and that made the whole situation much worse, with shards of agony seeming to bury into his chest and pinning him to the hard surface that he lay on.

Klaus panicked, regaining more consciousness, and opened his eyes to flurorescent lights and _pain pain pain._ He could feel his heart beating with a fevor in his broken chest, and could almost hear it somehow, translated into beeping and alarms.

All he could see above him, through blurry eyes and overflowing tears, were hazy shapes moving around him. Tight hands gripped his sides, and Klaus could just about feel them, though it felt like his senses had been numbed and like his skin was wrapped in several layers of cotton. He tried to make some sort of noise, to call for help, but then he was choking and no sounds were coming out.

He suddenly thought of his siblings, and his panic intensified.

The last thing Klaus remembered was the gun in the bank, his dash across the floor, but he couldn’t remember how it ended. He tried to focus his eyes, to see where his brothers and sisters were, but the lights were too bright and his head was too fuzzy. He needed to know that they were safe, _needed_ to know what had happened after the man raised the gun and aimed it at Diego and Allison.

 _Ben_ , he tried to call out, _Diego – Five – Allison – Luther – Vanya!_ But again he found himself unable to make more than a sound, and every second that he wasted failing brought more waves of crushing pain and agony. His body was trapped, unable to move and wracked by pain, but somehow his chest kept rising, his breath kept coming. Klaus felt hot tears falling down his cheeks, and he was certain that he was dying. This was dying, it had to be.

After what felt like eternity, he became aware that he was slipping away again.

The fire in his chest began to ebb away, and he slowly lost the feeling in his fingers that had been gripping the table underneath him.

Klaus tried once more to make a sound, but was let down by his waning energy. His eyes drooped closed, and somehow the darkness that met him was more terrifying than the bright lights that had shone down on him. He was powerless against it though, and try as he might, Klaus couldn’t fight against it.

He thought that he could feel someone tenderly stroking his hair as everything faded from around him, and that was when Klaus was certain of it.

He was dying.

.

The six siblings stood in the dining room as their father had ordered, stoic and silent.

Ben could feel the cloud lifting from his consciousness, and he wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to keep himself upright. Beside him, Five was clenching his fists at his sides, his face expressionless, while Vanya to his left was shrinking in on herself like she always did. Luther was standing as tall and straight as he possibly could, reverting back to his mission stance that Ben knew he did when he was nervous. Diego was running his fingers over a blade that he’d picked up from somewhere along the way from the bathroom, and the sharp edge looked like it was going to cut his fingers, but Ben knew it never would. Allison seemed to be holding it together as poorly as the rest of them, her lips pressed together as her hands clasped each other so tightly that Ben could see blood beginning to gather underneath her fingernails.

They stood in their numbered line, falling into sequence out of habit, and Ben could sense the gaping hole between Number Three and Number Five. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the gap that they had left between Allison and Five, whether on purpose or not he couldn’t tell, and it made his heart hurt somehow. He shifted his weight between his feet, and looked down at his socks in an attempt to focus on something else.

Suddenly their father strode into the room though, and they all snapped to attention.

Sir Reginald regarded them in silence for a moment, and the longer he went without speaking, the more sure Ben was that the worst had happened. Surely though he would know if Klaus – he would be able to feel if his brother had – had—

Just as they were about to burst, he spoke, “Number Four is stable,” and those words rushed through Ben and nearly knocked him over. He tightened his arms around his stomach, and rocked backwards with the relief, so consumed by the words that he almost missed the rest of his father’s statement, “—not in keeping with how I raised you to carry out missions. I expect a full report to get to the bottom of this incident.”

Luther spoke up, “But Klaus—Klaus is okay?”

“Number Four’s condition is unfortunate, but there is nothing more to be done than what Grace and Pogo are currently doing. I am expecting a mission report, Number One. Do not make me ask again.”

Ben could feel himself hanging onto the words, leaning forward like the rest of his siblings, and they all seemed to snap at the same time—words rushing forward out of them and ignoring their father’s demand.

“K-K-Klaus, h-he’s go-going to b-be fine, though?”

“Father, please, we need to know—”

“Tell us, please tell us—”

“He’s going to live though, isn’t he—”

Their father sighed loudly in displeasure, and cut them all off with a wave of his hand, “Number Four has suffered grievous injuries which was a regrettable outcome. He has lost a considerable amount of blood and sustained damage to one of his lungs, and his leg, as I’m sure you are aware. However, the surgery to remove the bullets was a success, and he has already regained consciousness briefly in the past hour, though had to be sedated again.”

Ben sucked in a deep breath, feeling the words settle around him. _Klaus was alive! He was alive, and he was awake_ , and Ben’s heart was soaring until he realised that Klaus had woken up and Ben hadn’t even been there for him.

He hadn’t noticed that he’d taken a few steps towards the door, in his need to be beside Klaus and see the proof for himself, until a tight grip tightened around his arm. Sir Reginald pulled him back sharply, and Ben stumbled as a cry died on his lips before he could stop himself from making the noise.

“Number Six!” His father shouted at him as he deposited him back in between Five and Vanya roughly, “You have not been excused, and no one is leaving this room until the mission is reported in the usual manner.”

His cheeks burned red with embarrassment and anger at the same time, but Ben simply bowed his head. Five silently bumped his shoulder against Ben’s when their father turned to glare at Luther further up in the line, and Vanya’s trembling hand brushed against his in quiet support.

Luther started speaking then, his voice quieter and more subdued than normal, and Ben closed his eyes and tried to relive the mission again through his brother’s words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a delay in getting this chapter up, real life got in the way. Hope you enjoyed it though, I wanted to explore a bit of the post-mission shock and also Luther stepping up to be a bit more of a leader.
> 
> More to come, so let me know what you thought!


	4. Chapter 4

Diego kept his eyes trained on the floor in front of him as he listened to Luther recount the failed mission for the fifth time.

His brother’s voice was disciplined and mostly steady as he spoke, but the intermittent cracks in his tone gave his sorrow away. Diego could feel Luther shifting unconsciously from foot to foot as he spoke, but Diego stood firm, not moving a muscle, and he could feel Luther knocking against him slightly every few moments. Back straight, arms clasped behind them, that was the ‘official’ debrief pose. They were soldiers without titles.

“And then, uh, I heard a shot behind me, and it became clear that the assailant had targeted Klau—I mean, Number Four.” Their father insisted on them using their numbers in debriefs instead of their names. “Number Four was down, compromised on the ground, so I focused on securing the scene along with Number Six while the others carried out initial assessment of Number Four. And then, uh—”

It was when Luther was forced to describe the moment that everything had fallen apart yet again, that Diego cracked. He let out a growl of frustration, and gripped the hilt of one of his small throwing knives that he was clutching behind his back.

Sir Reginald was pacing in front of the two of them while Luther talked, ignoring the rest of their siblings as usual for the initial debriefing stages. However his father stopped sharply in front of him when Diego made a sound, and he could feel the scrutiny he was under. Diego refused to meet his gaze.

The cane rapped the wooden floor in front of him, and Diego clenched his teeth tighter together rather than give his father the satisfaction of flinching. He looked up slowly, and met Sir Reginald’s ice blue eyes, “Do you have something to add, Number Two?”

“W-why didn’t we b-b-bring him to a hos-hospital?” The words were out of his mouth before Diego could hold them back, but he didn’t regret them. A burning sensation was rising in his chest, “He was dy—we were _closer_ to a h-hospital…”

There was no trace of emotion on his father’s face as he said coldly, “I will _not_ risk the reputation of the Umbrella Academy being compromised, not by any of you. There was adequate care available here, and so there was no need to involve the public.”

“The blood…” Ben spoke then, his face still deathly pale, “There was so much blood though…”

All the siblings shuddered then, at the memory of shiny tiles smeared with dark blood, of the leather interior of the car gleaming with blood, at the trail they’d left from the car through to the medical bay that was probably still there.

Seeming not to notice, Sir Reginald only waved a dismissive hand at their pain, “I was, of course, prepared for this eventuality. Though, I did not expect your collective failure to be quite so… dramatic. I had a cleanup team of men waiting nearby in case of such a scenario. They were able to move in before the police and cover up the magnitude of the failure.”

The nonchalant tone of his father’s voice and the casual _inevitability_ of what he seemed to be saying made Diego’s mouth drop open.

Sure, he knew by now that regular kids didn’t fight crime or learn ten different ways to take down an assailant before they turned eight years old. He knew that his family was special, that they took risks that many adults didn’t even.

They knew they weren’t invincible, but they’d _never_ seen this level of devastation coming, could never have predicted that one of their own would be shot down and torn apart right in front of them.

But apparently their father had.

And he’d sent them on missions anyway, even having a backup plan in place in case one of them bled too much as they died.

In that moment, Diego was sure that he’d never hated anything in the world more than the man that they called father. He couldn’t even find a way to form words, only managing to clench his fists and take a step forward towards the _monster._

He was aware of Five and Ben moving somewhere down to his left, but Diego couldn’t process anything further than the rage that was enveloping him.

Luther and Allison both moved with him and grabbed onto his shoulders, trying to prevent him from doing something that would end in a severe punishment. He tried to shake free, and managed to dislodge his sister’s hold, but Luther was strong as ever on his other side.

Sir Reginald stared him down, looking disappointed at what Diego assumed was his lack of control.

Their father sighed and raised a hand, “You are dismissed. We will return to this debrief at a later stage when I have gone through the security tapes of the bank that have been acquired by the back-up team. As Grace is currently occupied, you may eat in the kitchen for dinner, and I will address you again in the morning.”

He left the room swiftly then, letting the door close behind him with a bang, and for a long second none of them moved.

Then they all seemed to deflate, and Diego felt himself leaning back against Luther’s grip. His brother held him steady for another moment, and then they both moved – Luther to comfort Allison who looked shell shocked and was still crying, and Diego to check on Ben and Five who seemed to be hanging onto each other for support.

.

Ben could barely process what was going on, past the fact that he needed to get to Klaus as quickly as possible.

He managed to hold himself together long enough for Sir Reginald to interrogate Luther multiple times about the mission, and Ben was just grateful that he didn’t turn his attention to him as he wasn’t sure he could make a coherent sentence if prompted that wouldn’t end in his breakdown.

Finally, after an excruciatingly long debrief that Ben steadfastly didn’t listen to, their father left and they all fell into a muddled group hug for a few moments.

Then Ben was pushing past Vanya and striding to the door as fast as his weak legs allowed him to, and he knew that he was flanked by the rest of his siblings. He needed to see Klaus, needed to believe that his brother was still alive, as their father had told them.

They knew without saying that Sir Reginald would have retired to his office by now, so there was nothing holding Luther back from pounding on the infirmary door with a shaking fist, Ben leaning past him to see if he could open the door.

Pogo emerged before Ben could yank at the door with his full force, his face somber, “I know you are all eager to see Number Four, but—”

“Father didn’t forbid it,” Allison blurted out then, and the words in themselves seemed to be a test. She was forbidden from rumour-ing any of them unless given the command by Sir Reginald, but Ben didn’t doubt in that moment that she would have done in it in a hearbeat.

Their father’s assistant inclined his head in a nod, and Ben sucked in a breath of relief before the words, “I understand that, Miss Allison, but your brother is very weak. He is not yet ready for—”

“ _Please_ ,” Ben gasped out, he heard the rest of his siblings cry out at the same time.

“Pogo, you have to—”

“We need to see him.”

“You have to let us in, please—”

“Just for a minute or two, Pogo—”

Their mother appeared behind Pogo then, and Ben was faintly relieved that she had changed her apron to one that was no longer covered in blood smears, “Klaus’ vitals are stable for now, and he has already been extubated. I believe he would be able for a few minutes with the other children, provided they remain calm.”

Ben could see Diego beaming at their mother out of the corner of his eye, and he could feel his own chest filling with warmth for her. This was one of the times when she was on their side, not Sir Reginald’s and they all felt a sense of relief.

Pogo hesitated for a moment, and then nodded slowly, “Very well, ten minutes then.”

They tried not to rush into the room all at once, but Ben didn’t think they were fooling anyone with their fake calmness.

And then – there was Klaus. _Klaus._

His brother was lying supine on the medical bed, covered by a white sheet and hooked up to a number of tubes and wires, but he was _there_ and he was _breathing._ He seemed slightly less pale than earlier, and Ben noticed the multiple infusions and transfusions that were ongoing. He was grateful that they couldn’t see the full extent of the injuries, there would be time for those later and Ben knew that his brother had a tough recovery ahead, but for now – he was content with Klaus being _alive._

They all stood in silence for a moment, and then Klaus moved his head slightly and scrunched up his nose in that way he always did just before waking up. It was as if his brother knew that they were all with him, and all Ben could do was hold his breath and watch.

“Klaus?”

.

Klaus’ first sense to return was his hearing.

It was muffled though, as if he was underwater, but he could just about make out the sound of beeping. It sounded regular and almost familiar, but it was also annoying as hell. He felt his head twitch to the side involuntarily, and thought he heard a voice speaking to him but he couldn’t hear through the dullness.

Then his sense of smell returned, and it made his nose wrinkle up in distaste. His surroundings smelled like antiseptic and that copper-y smell that Klaus knew as blood. His mouth tasted vaguely of blood and plastic, and it confused him.

His mind struggled with the concept of _blood_ and _infirmary? Who was hurt?_ But he found his sluggish consciousness was able to move past it easily enough without too much questioning.

After a few moments, Klaus was able to open his eyes, and he felt himself groan lightly as his eyelids fluttered open. Bright light assaulted him and he let out a barely audible gasp, before squeezing his eyes shut again.

He needed answers though, needed to know what this strange purgatory really was, so he forced himself to open his eyes again.

Blurred shapes moved above him, and Klaus felt dizzy as he stared up at them until they eventually coalesced to form the faces of his siblings. He squinted up at them, realising for the first time that he was lying down and they were standing around his bed.

Klaus still couldn’t feel the majority of his body though, didn’t have any sense of his arms or legs or torso, and that terrified him. He gasped again, and one of the shapes – Ben – moved closer to him, whispering something that Klaus still couldn’t hear through the numbness of his shock. He could, however, see the tears that streamed down Ben’s cheeks, and his panic only rose in intensity.

Feeling weaker than he ever had before, Klaus tried to lift his head off the bed, to catalogue his body and make sure he could count all of his six siblings. He was unable to, mostly due to the complete lack of strength and partly because of Diego’s hand that shot out to hover over his chest as a warning.

He flicked his eyes over to look at his other brother, and while Diego wasn’t actively crying like Ben, his face was pale and pinched as if he was in extreme pain. His hand was shaking over Klaus’ chest, and Klaus frowned slowly, before Diego moved to ever so gently pat his shoulder.

“ _Whaaaa_ …” His voice was cracked and almost inaudible, and the breathless quality of it made Klaus worry. He tried to move his lips more, but they felt too big and numb, incapable of making real sounds.

His siblings seemed to understand what he meant though, and Klaus watched through hazy eyes as they seemed to exchange glances and tears welled up in their eyes.

Luther was the one who spoke first, and his brother looked sadder than Klaus had ever seen him, “There – there was a mission and it went wrong, K-Klaus. You.. you saved us. But, uh, you got hurt.”

Klaus tried to take in the words that Luther was saying, but his brain was having trouble processing them. Mission? Saved? _Him?_ He was always just the lookout though, he didn’t—how could he have? His confusion must have showed on his face, because when he made eye contact with Five, his brother nodded with that intense expression of his to verify Luther’s story, which only baffled Klaus even more.

He tried to move then, to lift a hand up to Vanya who was shaking in between Ben and Five, but his arm barely lifted a few centimetres off the bed before it flopped back down.

“Klaus – no, don’t move,” Vanya said quickly, brushing a hand across her face to wipe away tears and then tentatively took hold of his trembling hand and squeezed it.

On his other side, Allison did the same, and it was only then that Klaus was able to tilt his chin downwards and notice the various tubes and wires attached to his arms. There were IV cannulae in both of his elbows, along with one sticking out of the back of a pale hand, and a device on his finger that Allison was avoiding touching.

He let his gaze wander to the side, and there he saw a tangle of wires attaching into a machine, the one that was beeping steadily. Klaus followed tubes upwards to see bags of what looked like blood hanging down from poles, and various trays of equipment lying in the corner. He was covered with a thin sheet, blocking his vision of his chest and legs, but a sinking feeling told him that something was wrong.

He still couldn’t really feel anything, as if the sensation in his body was switched off, and that also concerned him.

Someone patted his tangle of curly hair, just as his eyes started to slip closed, and Klaus let out a whimper at the feeling of unconsciousness dragging him back down.

“It’s okay, Klaus, its okay.”

“We’ll be here when you wake up again.”

“Don’t fight it, bro, you need to rest.”

Then all the sounds faded away, and Klaus felt himself doing the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time got away from me, and that's why this chapter is so delayed. Hoping to finish this up in about two more chapters though, so those should be quicker coming now that I'm back on track. 
> 
> Always appreciate feedback, so leave a comment below if you've got a minute!

**Author's Note:**

> Aaand not sure where that came from but there you go. Will add the next few parts on to this to conclude it over the next few days, would love to know your thoughts! Title might change as I'm not set on it, but description will stay the same.
> 
> Stay tuned!


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